


Little Bird

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Fluff, Kid Fic, Long lost love, all the feels, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 17:16:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6916099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Wilson meets Darcy Lewis outside of the principal's office, and looking back on it all, that's probably when he fell in love with her.<br/>~~~</p><p>Inspired by thestanceyg's "Draw a Picture of a Bird Day"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Bird

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thestanceyg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestanceyg/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Draw a Picture of a Bird Day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3704545) by [thestanceyg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestanceyg/pseuds/thestanceyg). 



> I read thestanceyg's "Draw a Picture of a Bird Day," fell in love with it and just had to expand on it.
> 
> Author's Edit 11/28/16:  
> i was re-reading this and kind of realized that it was very rough around the edges, and i decided to go back through and fix it for my own peace of mind.  
> the plot hasn't changed at all, so don't worry about that! mainly i fixed typos and such, then added some stuff that i felt were missing. now (at least to me) it reads a more like i had originally wanted it to and less like it had been written in an hour (which it probably was...oops.)  
> thought i'd just put that fyi/head's up here for shits and giggles so that no one thought i just changed it completely.
> 
> hope you guys still enjoy!

Sam was used to being an ‘outsider’ as his momma called it, so when they moved to a new neighborhood he wasn’t too surprised when all the rest of the kids gave him a wide berth. Even if he wasn’t the ‘new kid,’ he was  _ different.  _ His family was  _ different. _

It was just him and his mom, for one thing. While single moms weren’t exactly a novelty, a single, black, wildy  _ successful _ mother of one was a little bit more rare. At least, it was in their new neighborhood. 

Not that Sam’s mom let that stop her from living her life. Mavis Wilson was a powerful and terrifying woman who had exactly  _ zero _ time for anyone else’s shit when it came to her and her son. If someone was ragging on his mom at work? You could bet that Ms. W was going to take the complaint to the top of the ladder and rain down  _ fire _ on your dumb ass, no matter who you were. Just because she was the minority of all minorities at her law firm (“I’m drowning in old white men, Sammy,  _ drowning!”) _ didn’t mean that she’d just let anybody walk all over her. Sam was forever grateful that his mom passed on her spine of steel to him, he’d come to rely on it so much already in his short life. 

He wasn’t a fighter by any means, but if there was a kid getting picked on everyone knew Sam Wilson was going to get involved on their behalf. Yeah, he’d spend forever trying to ‘talk it out’ with the bully (conveniently giving the victim enough time to run away), but he also had no qualms with throwing out a punch or two if it meant the bully would stand down. 

It was after one of his more confrontational experiences with his new school’s bullies that he met Darcy Lewis. 

He’d heard her name, but that was mainly because when twelve year old kids heard about ‘fresh meat’ all bets were off. Kids were slightly terrifying like that. Sam was waiting outside the principal’s office with an ice-pack balanced on his left hand as well as his right cheekbone when Darcy got dragged into the room by her homeroom teacher.

“--so  _ yeah _ , I punched him in the face! But Jake grabbed Lindsay’s  _ boob! _ Her  _ boob, _ Mrs. Anderson!”

Sam’s eyebrows hit his hairline in shock at the girl’s shouting, but he agreed with her wholeheartedly. Jake Morrison was the type of punk who kept snapping girl’s bra-straps the moment they started showing up and had little respect for the word  _ ‘no.’ _

“Darcy,  _ hush. _ You wait right here for Principal Weber to speak to you, do you understand?” Darcy just rolled her eyes, but Mrs. Anderson must have realized that it was all she was going to get out of the girl and let her be. The teacher double checked Sam’s ice packs to make sure they were still cold enough before leaving the office. 

Sam waited in his chair quietly but took the time to study the girl across from him. Her wild dark brown hair seemed to have a mind of its own, the curls tangling something fierce around her head and shoulders. Her gray sweater, like her glasses, looked oversized and like they had seen better days once upon a time. She was wearing light denim jeans that had a few holes in them, and the brightest purple pair of converse Sam had ever seen.

Darcy was ten to his twelve, but they shared some of the same classes since she skipped a few grades. From what Sam had heard about her from his classmates, Darcy Lewis was a tiny ball of fury when properly motivated. She got bullied for her small size and her age (why kids made fun of her for being a genius, Sam never understood, especially since she  _ tutored _ most of the seventh grade in just about every subject) but never let anyone push her around. Like Sam, Darcy would also intervene when someone else was getting picked on and wouldn’t think twice about throwing her own punches if it was to defend someone else.

Which led them both to the waiting area outside the principal’s office on a Monday morning. 

“What are you looking at?” Darcy squinted her eyes at Sam and he could see a fight building up in her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” he was quick to apologize, “I just realized that I’ve never met you before, even though we’re both new here. And share classes,” he added sheepishly. It wasn’t the exact truth, but Sam didn’t feel too bad about the white lie. He waved his right hand a little awkwardly and introduced himself, “I’m Sam Wilson.”

Darcy’s eyes ran over his face as if she was searching for something, like maybe he was secretly making fun of her or something, before letting her suspicion drop away and her face broke into the biggest smile Sam had ever seen.

“I’m Darcy Lewis. I hear you get into trouble, Sam,” She pointedly looked at the ice packs he was holding with no small amount of mischief in her eyes. 

He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally but couldn’t stop his own smile from growing; her giddiness was contagious.

“Well, I like trouble,” Darcy continued, “So we’re going to get along just fine.”

And the crazy thing was, they did. Sam never had a better friend than Darcy Lewis. He wasn’t surprised by Darcy herself, since she was awesome in about every way, but he was surprised that they got along as well as they did. Sam had worried that the couple of years between them would make things difficult when it came to finding things they’d have in common, but Darcy would just tell him that misfits needed to stick together so he should just stop his worrying.

“Besides,” she’d laugh, “I technically should be in ninth grade, but the counselors don’t think it’d be good for me. So  _ really, _ if you think about it, I’m the older kid here.” Sam doubted her logic a little but he had learned early on in their friendship to pick his battles, so he wisely let that argument go.

After a year of friendship that surprised just about everyone and no one at once, Sam found himself impatiently sitting on his front porch with his mom one Saturday, waiting for Darcy to come over to play. His mom had gotten a bonus a couple months ago and hired someone to put in a treehouse in their yard, so Sam couldn’t  _ wait _ to show Darcy. Sam was bouncing in his seat and couldn’t stop fidgeting, but he tried to keep calm because he knew that Darcy and her mom were just out running errands. He practically bolted down the front steps when a beat up van pulled in front of their house. 

Sam  _ loved _ Ms. Lewis’ van. It was an old Volkswagen that was a garish orange with bright yellow flowers painted on its sides. Sam’s mom always said it assaulted her eyes with its colors, but she always smiled wide when she saw it just like he did. Some places on the van were rusting and you could see a couple of cracked windows near the back that were held together with clear packing tape and a prayer. Ms. Lewis had bought the van second-second hand when she came to the States and hadn’t bothered to fix it up too much. As long as it ran, Ms. Lewis didn’t seem to really care how ragged it looked. Sam loved it because he could see how much Darcy and her mom loved the thing. Before they moved across the street from the Sam and his mom the Lewis women had crossed the country in the van, making it more of a home to them than the brick house they lived in now.

Both Lewis women hopped out of the van and began making their way across Sam’s front yard, big matching smiles on their faces as they chatted to one another in Ms. Lewis’ native language, Romani. 

Sam could hear his mom huff at him when he just grabbed Darcy’s hand and ran to the back yard without so much a ‘hello’ to Darcy’s mom. Sam was just excited, okay?

~

“I have heard of nothing but this treehouse for the last three weeks, Mavis, I hope it was worth the wait.” Nadya gratefully accepted the glass of lemonade from her friend and settled onto the porch swing next to her.

Mavis chuckled, “Believe me, it is. I plan on going up there myself the moment I get a chance.” She knew Sam was probably getting on to be too old for something like a treehouse and that he’d outgrow it soon, but she couldn’t deny her son anything. She’d worked hard to provide for her Sammy and to give him a good life, a  _ happy _ life. And if that meant a ridiculous treehouse, so be it. 

The two women chatted easily about nothing as they sat, smiling at one another when they heard the gleeful shouts from both of their children. Both mothers had found an unlikely friendship with one another, but a true one, much like their children had found themselves. Mavis studied her friend at the thought, looking closely at the way Nadya’s shoulders had relaxed some and the seemingly ever-present tightness was gone from around her eyes. As if sensing her train of thought, Nadya spoke.

“I am feeling...settled,” she started, “Darcy has made a friend, I have made a friend, and we are happy here.” Nadya looked to Mavis, eyes twinkling with joy. “We will stay here for some time, I think. Maybe not forever, but for a long while yet.”

Mavis felt some unknown anxiety in her chest relax at the confession. She knew that Nadya was a free spirit down to her very core, trusting the wind to take her where she needed to be. It was why Nadya had separated from her family, she had confessed, loving them dearly but unable to settle with them forever. So she took off to travel the world. She had changed her surname (“To fit in easier,” she had confessed with a shrug, “You try spelling out your thirteen letter name to everyone, it’s too much!”) and had Darcy along the way, but it didn’t stop her adventuring in the slightest. 

Mavis would never begrudge Darcy’s mother happiness, but she was pleased that her friend was staying. Ever since her husband’s abandonment when Sam was barely six years old, she had to watch her son retreat further and further into himself as more time passed. But now her baby boy was  _ awake _ again that Darcy was in his life,  _ their  _ lives _. _

“I’m happy for you, Nadya, truly. You know you and Darcy will always have a place with us.” Mavis put as much sincerity in her words as she could manage, wanting Nadya to understand that she and Darcy would always have a  _ home _ with them, no matter where life took them next.

Hearing everything that went unspoken, Nadya’s smile was large and bright, and Mavis couldn’t help but to return it.

~

“You look like a little bird up there, Sam.”

He rolled his eyes, “Darcy, can you just appreciate the sheer  _ awesome-ness _ that is a tree house with a crow’s nest? I’m like, twenty-five feet in the air!”

Darcy squinted between Sam and the ground, tilting her head in consideration. “I’ll give you nineteen and not an inch more.”

It was Sam’s turn to roll his eyes. Was it bad to sometimes want to smack your best friend? He pushed the thought aside when he heard Darcy’s clumsy hands and feet on the ladder rungs below him, listening closely and wanting to be ready in case she took a tumble. Sam knew that his best friend could take care of herself when it came to bullies and just about everything else, but he  _ also _ knew that she’d trip on empty air and injure herself more than anyone else ever could. A sigh of relief left him when he heard Darcy finally scramble into the treehouse and sit down on the floor. 

“Okay, so the part of the treehouse for people seems really awesome,” Darcy called up,  “But I’m still not sold on the bird’s-only nest up there.”

Sam couldn’t fight a smile at Darcy’s teasing tone, but he did try. “Hey, Darce?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

“Psssh, be grumpy all you want, little bird. You still love me.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” 

Sam rolled his eyes and looked up toward the sky to keep his friend from seeing his face even though she was nowhere near him. She could never _ever_ know about the blush on his cheeks at her words, as friendly and casual as they were, so he was thankful that his best friend was still in the treehouse below his perch. 

Well, maybe not  _ never  _ know _ , _ but certainly not anytime soon. He’d made a promise to himself regarding all his feelings about... _ that. _

Sam’s mom had come to him a couple weeks ago, “just to talk,” after Darcy left to go back to her house across the street. The pair had spent the whole day baking (well, _Darcy_ baked, Sam just ate everything in sight) in ‘celebration of one year of best-friendness’ and made a whole mess of the kitchen, that was so worth the scolding they got. He had thought that his mom was just going to scold him again now that Darcy had left, but instead his mom had told that since Sam was thirteen, it was time to talk about girls.

So. Horribly. Awkward.

But Sam was nothing if not a gentleman thanks to his amazing mother raising him, so he listened (awkwardly, so,  _ so  _ awkwardly) as his mom gave him ‘the talk’ and then,  _ somehow _ , started talking about Darcy.

“I know you’re young, Sammy, but I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, okay? From the birds to the bees to how to drive a car...and your crush on Darcy.” Sam had begun spluttering in protest but his mom shut him up with a raised eyebrow and a  _ look. _ “I’m not going to say anything more after tonight, Sammy, but I just want you to know that it’s  _ okay _ . I’ve never seen friends like you and Darcy before, you two are friendship and love in the purest form, and it’s beautiful.” Sam knew that while his mom wasn’t spiritual or religious, she was intuitive. She  _ saw _ things. He had thought it was what made her a great lawyer, but really it was what made her great at everything.

“You just need to know, Sam, that you might have to wait for her. Her and her mother have that traveler blood in their veins; Darcy needs a guiding light, not an anchor. Do you understand?”

He did. Sam knew that Darcy and her Mom were what some people would call flighty, but Sam knew better. Darcy and her mom  _ lived. _ They were brave and let the world take them away whenever and wherever they pleased, facing each new adventure together with delight. And because of all that, they had an wary respect for commitment, whether it was what to wear for the day or where in the world to live _.  _ It was something that Sam had always envied, that ability to just  _ live _ and be  _ free _ like that, though he knew it was something he’d never be able to do himself. Sam liked having roots, having that something that resonated as  _ home _ in his heart no matter what life threw at him. 

(It had frightened him, after his talk with his mom, when Sam had realized that  _ Darcy _ was beginning to settle into that spot in his heart. He kept that revelation to himself, but he wasn’t fool enough to think that his mom didn’t know. She always knew.)

But Sam was smart enough to know that being the kids that they were, he and Darcy didn’t need to do a damn thing. She was just eleven and he thirteen; they had their whole lives to figure out how they felt, and they could figure it out  _ together _ . His mom just wanted him to be  _ aware _ she had said, because there was nothing worse than not knowing what good you had in front of you until it was too late. 

Judging by the heat coming off of his cheeks every time Darcy smiled at him? Yeah, Sam was  _ plenty _ aware of how he felt.

But he could wait. For Darcy, he’d wait forever.

~

Sam poked his head into the now very familiar room outside the principal’s office (even though they had just gotten to their new high school a few weeks prior) shaking his head at what he saw. 

Darcy sat with her arms crossed tightly around her torso and an absolutely  _ furious _ expression on her face. The target of her ire? Jake Morrison, who was holding one ice-pack to his nose and another to his groin, looking everywhere but at the angry girl sitting across from him. Sam winced in sympathy at the latter injury, though he figured that Jake probably deserved whatever Darcy gave him. Sam whistled to get Darcy’s attention and tossed her a balled up piece of paper when she looked up. With a wink, he turned back into the hall and jogged across the building, knowing yet uncaring that he was going to be late for 9th grade biology.

Back in the office, Darcy smiled as she opened the piece of paper. On it was a small drawing of a bird (Sam drew falcons, Darcy drew swallows) and Sam’s scratchy writing.

_ The Nest, 10:00? You can tell me all about why you kicked Jake’s ass and I’ll tell you about how shitty home room is without you. _

It was easy enough to sneak out of her bedroom window that night, what with being on the first floor and having a mother with really lax rules about curfew, but Darcy liked to pretend, anyways. It was Sam’s mom who insisted on a curfew for him, giving him even earlier ones on school nights, even though she always turned a blind eye when she caught him sneaking out with Darcy. 

When she arrived in Sam’s backyard Darcy could already see the faint glow of a flashlight in the treehouse. Moments later she was on the ladder and knocking their secret knock on the door.

Sam’s smiling face peered down at her through the hatch in the floor. “I heard someone got a kiss from Jake in the parking lot today. How was it?”

Darcy groaned as he helped her into the treehouse and punched Sam in the shoulder none too gently. “Shut  _ up _ , little bird!”

“That bad, huh?”

~

“Little bird, you have to know that was a monumentally  _ bad _ idea, right?”

Sam winced as Darcy swiped the alcohol wipe over the scrape on his cheek once more. He sat on the bed of his pick-up truck in the school’s parking lot with Darcy standing between his legs, holding his well stocked (and well  _ used _ ) first aid kit in his hands between them while she patched him up. It was intimate, the way they always invaded each other’s space on a daily basis, but Sam had gotten used to the whispers and the gossip everyone pointed in their direction over the years. It was just how he and Darcy worked, easy as breathing and constantly orbiting one another.

(What he  _ hadn’t _ gotten used to was the way his heart would begin to beat violently in his chest each time Darcy touched him. He didn’t think that would ever be something he’d ‘get used to.’)

He pushed the errant thoughts from his head and focused back on Darcy as she kept tending to the scrapes on his face, “Maybe, but what was I supposed to do, Darce? Just let those punks beat on that kid? He was half their size! And there was four of them!”

Darcy sighed and swiped at the scrape a little harsher and ignoring his flinch, “I  _ meant, _ you should’ve waited for backup. Never fly in solo, little bird. Not when you know I’ll back your play.”

He watched Darcy from up close, unable to stop his thoughts from straying again and swallowing hard at the picture she made: her hair a curly wreck, blue eyes wide and full of emotion behind her glasses, and lips painted the deep red she favored. Darcy didn’t even know what she did to him, did she? She was flawed and perfect and everything that made his heart clench and soar, unsure of his footing but always knowing that she would guide him home. 

_ She _ was home. That feeling had started when they were just kids, though now it was so deeply ingrained in Sam that he doubted he’d ever be able to be rid of it even if he wanted to.  

He shook the sentiment from his mind, a familiar voice reminding him  _ not yet not yet not yet. _

“When did you become such a tactician?” he murmured when Darcy pulled away to get a new wipe. 

“Well, fifteen is a hell of an age,” Darcy snorted, “Another year wiser, and all that.”

His laugh turned into a hiss when Darcy began cleaning the cuts on the other side of his face. Her gaze was heavy when her eyes met his own.

“No more flying solo, little bird. Promise me.”

“I promise, Darcy. I promise.”

~

Sam knew his mouth was gaping open and shut like a fool, but he didn’t know what else to do.

“You’re. Moving.” He cleared his throat before trying again, “You’re leaving.” 

The part of Sam’s mind that was hopelessly overwhelmed with his heartbreak latched onto the errant yet logical thought that  _ at least they managed to graduate last month before Darcy left.  _ Well, only Sam had graduated high school. Darcy quickly got her high school diploma by her sophomore year and then managed to complete a college degree in political science from the local community college while she waited for Sam to get his own diploma, so that they could ‘go to  _ real _ college’ together once he graduated. 

The fog in his mind cleared once Sam realized that those plans and dreams were crashing and burning around him, and there was nothing he could do but stand there and try not to cry.

Darcy’s eyes were shamelessly red and wet, mascara and eyeliner running down her cheeks. Despite all of that she met his gaze head on, challenging and fierce, her chin held high even as her full red lips quivered. 

“Mom needs to move,” she said, only the slightest waver in her voice, “And where she goes, I go. That’s how it’s always been. It’s how it’s  _ always  _ gonna be.”

Sam knew it was because Darcy’s grandmother had died, the only member of her mom’s family that tried to keep their relationship alive after Nadya left. Her death was the catalyst needed to get the itch to leave under Nadya’s skin roaring once more, and Sam knew that there was no stopping her. Not even his mom, Nadya’s best friend, could convince her to stay. There was already a  _ For Sale _ sign in Darcy’s yard that hadn’t been there yesterday and her mom was waiting out front with their van.

He could sense Darcy becoming defensive so he pulled her into a tight hug before she could bust out that fight she always had in her. He wouldn’t let their last moments together be filled with misplaced anger. And if she couldn’t see his own wet eyes like this? Well, that was his business.

“I know, Darce, I know. I’ll do anything for my mom, and you do the same. It’s who we are. You _know_ I’ll never hold that against you.” Sam swallowed his tears when he felt Darcy’s smaller frame shake within his arms. “Where are you going?” _When will you come back?_ **_Will_** _you come back?_ Sam felt the questions bubbling under his skin, but he couldn’t push them out.

Darcy’s laugh was wet and obviously forced, though Sam didn’t call her out on it. He was fighting his own tears, after all. “Tibet, believe it or not. I don’t even know  _ where _ in the country, just  _ Tibet.” _ Sam simply held her tighter in response when her shaking grew worse. 

“I don’t want to go.” Her whisper was barely audible, even for Sam who had done his best to burrow his face in Darcy’s neck. His breath hitched audibly for a moment before he got it under control. He wasn’t dumb enough to think Darcy didn’t notice it, didn’t notice the way he was barely holding back his own cries, but she didn’t say anything. And Sam was just as silent.

Sam wanted to say that he was brave and laid everything in his heart out right then and there for Darcy, for them both. That he confessed that he didn’t care if she was sixteen to his eighteen and moving to the other side of the globe, that despite it all,  _ because  _ of it all, he was going to love her until the day he died and probably long after that as well. 

Was that dramatic? Probably. But was that feeling real?

_ Absolutely. _

She was his home _. _ It was just as simple and as complicated as that. Darcy didn’t just hold a place in Sam’s heart, she  _ was _ his heart. 

But it wasn’t time to say all that, not when Darcy was literally moments from walking out of his life  _ (temporarily,  _ he silently vowed to them both,  _ only temporarily)  _ and their grief hung around them like a stormcloud. Wherever their roads may take them, Sam knew that they’d find one another again. Sam believed it to be true, to be  _ fact, _ deep in his bones just like he knew that Darcy was  _ it  _ for him. So he’d hold his tongue for now and wait until the time was right. 

“What if I don’t find you again, Sam?” Darcy’s voice cracked over the his name and he almost lost whatever composure he had left. Sam had to clench his jaw with as much strength as he could manage until he got himself back under control and thought he wouldn’t break apart right there in his backyard under their treehouse. 

“I’ll fly far and wide to find you, you know that, Darce.”

He lost the battle against his tears when Sam felt Darcy break apart in his arms with huge, body wracking sobs, letting them roll down his cheeks as their chests heaved with emotion together.

“Do you promise, little bird?”

“I promise, Darcy, I  _ will _ find you again.”

~

It was only three months after Darcy moved away that Sam’s mom got sick.  _ Cancer. _ They were told that she had years left, but Sam knew that the bills would weigh down on her mind. He needed to help his mom, to help give back to the woman who gave him  _ everything _ , but he didn’t know how _.  _

He was walking home from work (part time at a mechanic’s, nothing glamorous) when he saw the Air Force recruitment poster plastered against the brick of a building. 

It may not be enough, Sam thought, but it was definitely a start.

~

Darcy sat curled up in the hospital’s waiting room chair, tears steadily pouring from her eyes. She couldn’t understand all of what the nurses were gossiping to one another, but she understood enough.

Her mom was going to die, and there was nothing anyone could do. She was in surgery now, but Darcy could tell from the pitying glances from the nurses that it wouldn’t be enough to save Nadya. 

After almost four years living in this new country in peace, Darcy was going to lose her mother because some idiots in a street brawl.

There was a fight that had broken out, Darcy still didn’t know who it involved or why it happened, that somehow led to their small apartment building being swallowed by flames. Darcy was a ways across town working at an auto shop when it happened, so it wasn’t until her boss let her off her shift that she heard anything was wrong, that she heard all the sirens and saw the smoke rising into the air where their apartment had once stood. 

Their apartment was alright, not quite home  _ (home would always be her best friend, her little bird) _ but certainly good enough for Darcy and her mother. It had kept them safe and warm and happy, even if those feelings were only a shade of what they had been compared to a few years ago. Now only the shell of the building remained, blackened and empty, the survivors scattered outside and being taken to the hospital. 

Darcy’s mother was strong, brave and fierce and near  _ invincible,  _ but fire always beat everything else, Darcy realized, and it didn’t care who was in its way. Nadya had been pulled from the building, though not before the damage had been done. 

She traced the small tattoo on her left wrist with her right index finger, letting the motion sooth her. Once her breathing matched the slow rhythm of the lazy movement she spoke aloud in a harsh whisper.

“What am I going to  _ do _ , little bird?”

The falcon on her wrist didn’t say anything, but Darcy felt calmer just the same.

Three weeks after the hospital Darcy scattered her mother’s ashes, shoved all of her belongings into two large duffle bags, and had a plane ticket in her hand that read:  _ WASHINGTON DC. _

She was headed home.

But when she pulled up to Sam’s old house, grief clutched at her heart as she saw a different family playing in his yard. It was fairly naive to think that nothing would have changed, but Darcy had certainly  _ hoped. _ Never one to be thwarted by a challenge, Darcy left her car and walked up to who she assumed was the mother of the household when an older woman stepped out.

“Hi!” she called with what she hoped was a friendly tone, “I used to live across the street,” Darcy pointed at the house behind her, “And I had a friend that lived in this house. Do you know where Wilsons moved to?”

The woman seemed wary of her (with good enough reason, Darcy  _ was _ a stranger) but she eventually smiled at Darcy once she mentioned the Wilsons. 

“We moved in here three years ago, Sam Wilson sold us the house.” She stepped closer to Darcy and lowered her voice, “His mother died just months before he sold the house and he was about to get deployed. Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

Darcy didn’t even realize she had been crying until the other woman placed a hand on her shaking shoulder. She shook herself and forced a (mangled) smile at the kind woman. “Thank you for telling me.”

Without a glance back, Darcy made her way across the lawn to the beat up car she had bought for herself that was parked on the corner. She let her tears fall even as Darcy reminded herself that Sam would find her one day. 

He  _ promised. _

Until then? Darcy would just find something to do with herself. She picked a direction and just drove until she ran out of gas, right in front of Culver University.

“Huh. Maybe I’ll get another degree?”

She got out of her car and asked the first student she could find if they knew where the enrollment office was.

~

Sam had to use every ounce of his training to prevent himself from grinning ear to ear when he was approved for the new pararescue training. He’d always been Darcy’s little bird, and now here he was, learning to fly. Even better? He got to choose his own codename if he was good enough to get picked at the end of the training period. 

And damn if he wasn’t one of the best there was. Sam took to flying with the wings like he was born to use them, maneuvering with an ease that didn’t seem to come to anyone else. Well, the Riley kid was pretty good, but not as good as Sam.

It was in the middle of some god forsaken desert that Sam smiled wide at his new partner as they pulled on their packs.  _ Falcon  _ and  _ Icarus _ had their first mission. 

Riley was the reason that all of Sam’s tours of Afghanistan were bearable at all, and the guy quickly became Sam’s best friend. Riley knew Sam better than anyone (well,  _ almost _ anyone), and Sam trusted his partner with his life both on and off-mission. He was also the only one besides Sam’s mother that knew the real meaning about the swallow tattooed over Sam’s heart, though everyone else just laughed and asked if he meant to join the Navy. Riley knew about Darcy, and the sap that he was, constantly had Sam tell him stories about their antics as kids because wanted to know all about the ‘romance of our lifetime.’

“Why didn’t you write to her when she was in Tibet?” He asked for what must have been the twentieth time.

Sam sighed before he answered as he always did, “Because I couldn’t afford to be sending letters across the Pacific Ocean, even if I knew where they had move to. And they didn’t exactly get high speed internet out wherever they were.” Sam had used Air Force resources to (discreetly) search for Darcy in Tibet, but never found a trace of her no matter how hard he looked. 

Riley just nodded his head as he thought through Sam’s words, then clapped Sam on his shoulder. “You’ll find her,” he said, “I know you will.”

~

Sam stood still as a statue at the DC airport baggage claim, eyes unseeing of anything around him. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

His mom was gone, Riley was gone, and Darcy?

Sam didn’t even know how to go about finding her now that he was back in the States. But he knew that he needed to get himself back together before he tried to search for her. He still couldn’t go to sleep without seeing Riley die again and again  _ and again-- _

“Son? You alright?”

Sam snapped to attention at the voice, ready for trouble, only snapping out of it when he realized it came an older man standing a little bit in front of him.  _ No threat,  _ he tried to tell himself _. _ The man didn’t look at all phased by Sam’s reaction and instead gestured to Sam’s shaking hands and the sweat on his brow, his tense posture in his Army fatigues. 

“Okay, dumb question I suppose,” The man shrugged, “I just want to thank you for your service, son. And here.”

The man held out a piece of paper which Sam only took after a full minute of staring. The man didn’t seem to mind, content to wait until Sam hesitantly grabbed it in his own time. It had an address scrawled on it as well as a phone number and the name Stan Lee.

“I work at the VA. I know it may be the last thing on your mind, son, but it might do you some good.” With a nod of his head, Stan shuffled away without another word.

Sam didn’t know how long he stood at baggage claim staring at that piece of paper, but he was pretty sure it would fall under ‘too damn long.’ 

Three months later Sam stood awkwardly at the entrance of the VA, unsure of himself. 

“Hey, you made it!” Stan poked his head out of the door, “Get your ass in here, son, it’s too damn cold for you to be out there like a dope!”

Even though Sam didn’t feel like it, he smiled at the older man. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

~

Darcy ducked behind an overturned car with Jane, trying not to scream when something exploded behind them.

It was supposed to be a quiet six months in the desert, not an intergalactic incident! 

“Darcy,” Jane hissed, “You’re mumbling in Romani again. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but I  _ really _ don’t want the death bot to know where we’re hiding!”

She cursed once more under her breath just because she knew it’d make Jane smile, no matter the circumstances.

“Come on, boss-lady, let’s get the hell out of dodge and let Thor and his friends deal with this, yeah?”

“You read my mind, minion.”

~

There was New Mexico, SHIELD and jack booted thugs--

There was the VA, becoming a therapist--

There was dodging shady research grants, globe-trotting in the search of Science!--

There was the slow trek to recovery, piecing himself together day by day--

There was nightmares of giant fire-breathing robots and tears about long lost gods--

There was the Battle of New York, watched from two separate TVs but with matching tears--

There was the Dark Elves and the Aether--

There was meeting Steve Rogers and taking down the Helicarriers--

There was  _ so much _ that happened to them both, changing them and throwing them into this new world that they dove into head-first, but they were on their way home. Just a couple more years, and they’d make it.

Sam and Darcy were within shouting distance three times in all those years, and never even knew it.

~

The first time was at an airport in North Carolina, of all places. Darcy was leading Jane to their plane as fast as she could looking for their boarding passes while Jane tried juggle the pieces of Science! gear that they didn’t think would be safe with the rest of the luggage. They had to deal with the TSA trying to detain them and confiscate their machines, only getting released when Darcy bit the metaphorical bullet and contacted SHIELD to get some strings pulled, making them almost miss their flight. Darcy heard Jane stumble behind her and something land on the ground with a thunk, but she was too busy searching for their passes for the impatient woman at the gate to check on her friend.

Jane, meanwhile, was trying to find a way to kneel and grab the ‘doodad’ as Darcy called it, all while keeping everything else in her arms in place. Suddenly a dark hand reached out and grabbed it for her, placing it delicately on top of her stack. She looked up ( _ way up _ , this guy was tall) and smiled at the man. He was handsome with a kind smile, and Jane couldn’t help getting a little breathless.

“Thanks!”

“No problem, ma’am. Have a good day, and be careful with all that stuff.” He winked before placing his headphones back in his ears and turned to go back to his seat. 

“Janie!” Darcy yelled, “We gotta get on the damn plane!”

Jane darted to her friend’s side, not bothering to hide her smile or small chuckles when she heard Darcy start to curse under her breath. She may not know a lick of Romani, but she had spent enough time around her best friend to know when she was cursing up a storm. 

“Get your panties untwisted, Darcy, I’m here.” Jane laughed louder when Darcy continued to curse as she dragged her onto the plane.

~

The second time they had passed one another was on Culver’s campus one year later. Sam was visiting a friend from the Army that had gotten a job as an engineering professor. Mike had worked on Sam’s wings, so the two had gotten close over the years, both overseas and back stateside. Mike was telling Sam about some of his students when something caught his eye over Sam’s shoulder.

“Shit! She’s here!” Sam watched his friend with amusement when he started messing with his hair and popped a mint into his mouth. 

“What the hell, man?”

Mike sniffed his shirt experimentally, shrugging with a ‘good enough’ gesture. “Dr. Foster and her assistant are back on campus, and her assistant?” Mike winked, “She’s hot as sin and  _ this time _ I’m going to get her number, Sammy-boy!”

Rolling his eyes at his friend’s antics, Sam turned to look out the window behind him. All he could see was a short woman in the rain, holding what looked like the world’s largest, and  _ strangest  _ umbrella he had ever seen. The bright white of it was covered in what looked like math equations, each painted on with varying neon colors that made Sam’s eyes water just looking at it. Written over it all in big black letters was the phrase,  _ Ask me about my Science! _

Sam leaned back against Mike’s desk and watched his friend dart into the rain and disappear around the woman’s umbrella. Exactly one minute later the woman and umbrella stalked away, leaving a soaked Mike holding a hand to his cheek. Sam didn’t even bother to stifle his laughter when Mike shuffled back into his office.

“Man, what the hell did you  _ say?” _

His friend didn’t meet his eyes, making Sam groan. “You were an asshole, weren’t you? Goddamnit, Mike!” He loved his friend like a brother, but Sam had hoped Mike had grown out of his frat-boy-like mentality when it came to speaking with women. So there was no doubt that Mike deserved the slap the mystery woman dealt him.

Said man raised his hands in surrender, “Hey! I didn’t think she’d  _ slap me! _ ” At Sam’s unimpressed eyebrow raise he continued to speak. “I asked her out, and she said no because her and Foster are heading to London in a month so she didn’t want to ‘start anything,’” Sam thought the air quotes were a bit much, but he held his tongue for the moment. “So then I ask her if she’d just be interested in a little  _ fun _ , and she slapped me!”

Sam hung his head and let out an exasperated groan. “Dude, I don’t even have to ask to know that you were probably rude and vulgar when you asked about ‘a little fun.’  _ Don’t _ try to deny it man, I know you. You  _ gotta _ go and apologize to her!”

Mike’s baffled expression immediately shut down and replaced with a...terrified one? “ _ Hell _ no, Sam! Do you know what Foster does? She  _ tears holes in space! _ Space, Sam! If I show up to their office she’ll send me to the ass-end of the universe!”  

“Maybe you should have thought about that  _ before _ you decided to be a dick, hmm?”

Mike groaned, “Shut up, Sam.”

~

The third time they made like two ships in the night, they were both in New York, outside of Stark Tower. Sam had stepped into a nearby coffeeshop to grab a drink and pastry, per Steve’s suggestion. 

“Tony wants to get your input about a new set of wings, and I have it on good authority that you don’t want to step in his lab without caffeine in your system.”

Sam had shrugged when he got the text, never one to pass up coffee. After he had placed his order he looked around the cafe with interest. It was directly across the street of the Tower but where that giant monument to Stark’s ego was all sharp lines and modern design like the rest of Manhattan, the  _ But First, Coffee _ cafe was all warm colors and comfy overstuffed arm chairs. 

His eyes narrowed when he saw a familiar petite woman at one of the tables, slamming what looked like a piece of machinery on the wood table and cursing under her breath. She must have slammed something too hard because suddenly a part of the thing she was abusing broke off and skidded to a halt at Sam’s feet. He didn’t hesitate to pick it up and walk over to the woman, placing it on a stack of even more doodads piled around her.

Their eyes met and they both smiled. “This seems familiar,” Sam mused, “Have we met?”

The woman squinted at him before the metaphorical light bulb went off. “Yes! For about a second, I dropped some stuff in an airport and you helped me pick it up.” She laughed as she looked at the thing in her hands, “I actually think it was the same doodad, believe it or not.”

Sam was about to ask her what it was when the barista called his name the same moment his phone began to ring. He made sure to smile at the woman again as he began to walk away, “Well, have a good day then. Try not to drop any more things, yeah?” The woman just laughed and waved at him as he made his exit. 

Half a moment later, Darcy walked out of the bathroom.

She had originally been on the phone with Ian, explaining for the millionth time that a kiss in the middle of space alien war did  _ not  _ equal a relationship. Just as she hung up she got a call from Tony Stark.  _ Seriously. _

He was trying to get Jane to sign on with Stark Industries, mainly because of Thor’s request that his lady love and lightning sister remain close, but also it meant that he got one up on SHIELD. They spent a good handful of minutes trading sharp banter before he asked Darcy the best way to lure Jane into SI and his labs. Darcy was  _ really  _ excited about the state-of-the-art coffee/espresso machine in their lab that Tony promised. Jane would be stoked, too, but mainly for the ‘Thor-proof’ bed. Tony had laughed for a full minute at that, but agreed anyways.

When she sat back down at their table, Jane was frowning at an email on her phone. “Did you seriously have Tony Stark bribe me with coffee and an unlimited supply of pop-tarts? And, I quote,  _ ‘A bed worthy of Demi-gods?’ _ ”

“Yup! Sure did boss-lady. And also a shit-ton of research funding and state-of-the-art equipment.”

Jane smiled, “Good. Now, let’s drag this out for a little longer and see what else we can get from him. Pepper emailed me too and asked us to milk this for whatever we can because it’s keeping a very sleep deprived Tony out of the lab, and ‘there’s already been too many explosions this week.’”

Darcy raised her latte in a salute to her friend, “It’d be an honor to do dirty work for Pepper Potts, I accept this mission.”

~

Sam had been in the Tower for four weeks and he was ready to lose his goddamn mind. Steve and Tony couldn’t stop fighting about anything and everything, butting heads just for the sake of being stubborn, Sam thought. Natasha would appear out of the shadows like a friggin ghost (she had been sworn to secrecy when she heard his high-pitched terrified squeal) and Clint liked to drop from the air vents like it was a totally normal thing to do.

It was  _ Avengers Tower _ , Sam realized, so maybe this was his new normal.

When Sam wasn’t playing mediator for Steve and Tony, he was working in the quiet oasis that was Bruce’s lab to look up leads on Barnes. Oh, he was well aware of the irony that was the Hulk being the calmest presence in the tower, but again, it was  _ Avengers Tower.  _

Bruce must have noticed his tense body language because the man stepped away from his microscope and laid a gentle hand on Sam’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, Jane will be here soon. While  _ she _ may not be a sea of calm, I’ve been told that her friend is a hell of a ‘mad scientist wrangler.’ Which,” he gestured at the glass wall separating his pristine lab from Tony’s smoke-filled one, “I think is something we all desperately need.”

“I just hope her friend gets paid the big bucks for dealing with this funhouse,” Sam sighed, “ _ Not _ that I don’t love everyone’s special brand of crazy, but I think some sort of normal is needed here.”

Bruce chuckled, “I couldn’t agree more.”

~

Darcy looked around the elevator with curiosity, wondering how the hell it was going to move if it didn’t have any buttons. She  _ knew _ she should have just gone up with Jane but she saw the  _ biggest _ cookie at  _ But First, Coffee _ across the street and she  _ needed  _ it!  She forgot about the buttons and cookies, instead focused on not peeing herself when a smooth british voice came out of nowhere.

_ “Miss Lewis, Dr. Foster is in her lab, would you like me to take you there?” _

Darcy nodded, but she was still too shocked by the bodiless voice to do anything but that.

_ “Judging by your reaction, I assume that Mr. Stark had not seen to notify you about me?”  _ Darcy just shrugged, so the voice continued,  _ “My name is JARVIS, and I am an artificial intelligence that was created by Mr. Stark. I help run the tower, Sir’s Iron Man suits, as well as almost anything else that you can think of. If you need assistance, you must only ask.” _

Previous shock gone, Darcy was neck deep in  _ awe. _ “You’re an AI?! HOLY SHIT! That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!”

The rest of the elevator ride was filled with excited chatter between Darcy and the AI, the two becoming fast friends. JARVIS was pleased that Darcy promised to take care of Tony, while he would help her manage the scientists sleeping and eating habits for her. 

“We’re going to be a good team, J, I can feel it.”

_ “I’m inclined to agree with you, Darcy.” _

(Oh yeah, Darcy is totally on a first name basis with JARVIS, how kickass is that?)

~ 

Sam’s groan was alarmingly loud when Steve and Tony started fighting once again, not that neither seemed to notice, however. It all had started  _ this  _ time because Tony wanted to put lasers on Sam’s wings while Steve stood his ground and said  _ no _ . Sam wasn’t sure how the argument got so heated, since  _ neither _ of them would be using the wings, but Sam made sure to stay clear of the argument. He didn’t give a shit at this point if his wings had lasers on them or not, he just wanted to  _ fly _ .

Both his teammates (and wasn’t  _ that _ something, Sam was an Avenger now) began throwing their arms around as their argument got more and more heated (Tony suddenly had one of his Iron Man gauntlets on) so Sam made the tactical decision to move to the far wall where Dum-E and some other robots were hanging out, safe from excited super heroes. Movement across the hall caught his eye, and his curiosity got the better of him.

_ What the hell?  _ Sam’s eyes grew wide when he realized that the same petite woman from the coffee shop and the airport was moving around the lab across from Tony’s. Was she the new scientist moving in that Bruce mentioned?  _ Jane _ , his mind supplied her name. He smiled, completely baffled at the odds that he’d run into her  _ twice, _ and then here she was in Avengers Tower. He turned his head to ask Tony to calculate the numbers for him (there was a small chance that the mental task may get him and Steve to stop fighting) but the movement caused Sam to see the other person occupying the lab.

“Couldn’t be,” he breathed, eyes wide and heart stuttering in his chest.

“Couldn’t be,  _ what _ , birdy?” Sam jumped, not knowing when the hell Tony appeared at his side

“Darcy Lewis,” his hand gestured uselessly at the glass. Sam’s brain was still trying to wrap around the idea that she was  _ here,  _ that they had found each other after all these years. 

Tony cocked an eyebrow as he looked between Darcy and Sam, clearly not getting it. “How the hell do you know Jane’s intern, feathers?”

Sam ignored the nickname and kept his eyes focused on Darcy as he spoke, “She used to live across the street from me when were were kids. We were best friends ever since we met in the principal’s office for throwing some punches. Different fights, though,” Sam chuckled at the memory. “We were thick as thieves from when she was ten up until she was sixteen and her mom moved them to, and I’m not even kidding here,  _ Tibet. _ ” 

Sam felt Steve’s presence on his other side and could feel his friend studying him with an intensity the man usually saved for missions.

“Judging by that look on your face,” Steve hedged, “I think there was probably a little bit more than just friendship going on.”

He didn’t even blink at Steve’s assumption, since guy wasn’t wrong at all. “At least on my part,” he admitted shamelessly, “I’ve been crazy about her ever since I was thirteen. Broke my heart when she left. But I never stopped caring about her. She was the reason I got into pararescue, you know. She always called me her ‘little bird’ and then I was offered the chance to train? I couldn’t say no.”

Tony’s gaze was now incredulous, though Sam could see the small bit of warmth he was trying to hide behind his usual mask of nonchalance. “So, wait, hold up a second here. You’re telling me  _ that _ ball of sarcasm and caffeine is the reason you became the  _ Falcon _ ?” 

Sam met the other man’s gaze head on, not even embarrassed. “Yeah, Tony. She’s the reason.” He then narrowed his eyes at Tony, wary of the suddenly mischievous look in the other man’s eyes.

“JARVIS!” Tony shouted, “Does short and stacked over there have a suite yet?”

If JARVIS could, he definitely would have sighed.  _ “No Sir, it appears that Darcy does not have an assigned room as of yet. She has been focusing on getting Dr. Foster settled rather than move herself in.” _

The three men exchanged curious glances at JARVIS’ casual use of “Darcy” rather than “Miss Lewis,” but they shook it off and silently decided to think on it later.

“Right...excellent! Put her in the empty space next to feathers, here. Floor 68?”

_ “Of course, sir.” _

Sam almost lost his balance when Tony clapped him on his shoulder with the hand still wearing the suit gauntlet. “Well, good luck, Tweety. Don’t ever say I never did anything for you.” Before Sam could even open his mouth to thank the man Tony shouted again, “J! Let’s get some tunes in here, yeah?”

Steve put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and guided them both out of the lab once AC/DC started blaring at decibels that would be sure to cause them permanent damage if they stayed any longer. Once they exited they made their way down the hall to the elevators, careful to keep Sam out of the women’s line of sight. 

“You got a plan?” Steve asked once they were safely inside the car.

“I thought that being the Man With A Plan was your schtick, Cap?” Sam teased. “But yeah, I’ve got a plan. Going to use our old call sign and see if she wants to meet after curfew.” 

Steve tilted his head in an unasked question, prompting Sam to keep speaking. “We’d send each other notes with a time to meet in the Nest, my tree house,” he clarified, “Instead of signing our names I’d draw a falcon and she’d draw a swallow.”

His friend’s eyes lit up in understanding, “Your tattoo.”

Sam nodded, “Got it just a couple of weeks after she moved away. Thought my mom was going to have a fit but she just looked at it and said it was fitting.”

The elevator finally slowed, and both men left it for the common room as Steve spoke. “Why swallows and falcons?”

“Darcy and her mother are Romani, travelers,” Steve’s confusion cleared and he nodded in understanding. “They were always moving from place to place, letting the world take them wherever and just... _ living _ . _ ”  _ Sam sighed as the old feeling of envy reared its head in his heart once more, though it wasn’t as strong as it had once been. He may have been a little more broken and bent than he used to be, but Sam had  _ finally _ understood that freedom the Lewis women carried when he got his wings. And it was just as beautiful as he had always imagined it. 

He brought himself back to the present moment to answer Steve’s question. “Darcy said that she liked how sailors would get tattoos of swallows after a successful voyage. But she’d always say that her  _ life _ was one big voyage, and she thought it was a pretty damn successful and great one at that. I chose a falcon because they’re known to migrate constantly, always traveling great distances. Even when I was just a kid, I  _ knew _ I was going to chase after her one day. The day she moved I promised her I’d fly far and wide to find her, no matter what.”

Sam looked up at his friend when he finished and was relieved to find only understanding on Steve’s face. He figured Steve knew what it was like to  _ literally _ chase after your heart more than anyone else, after all. 

Steve shook the vulnerable look off of his face and replaced it with an expression that was both amused and slightly melancholy. “Sam,” Steve’s voice was a little rough around the edges, but Sam didn’t let on that he heard the it, “I’m from the goddamn forties and I think that was the cutest thing I’ve heard in my fucking life. All ninety years of it.”

He rolled his eyes in response to Steve’s teasing (and his thinly veiled deflection), even though objectively Sam knew the story  _ was _ as cute as a basket of kittens. Riley had definitely said that more than once. He punched Steve in his arm in good humor, but it felt like punching concrete.

“Stop being such a little shit, Cap, and help me build a pillow fort.”

“Sure thing, little bird.”

“...This may have been a mistake.”

Despite the constant ribbing from America’s favorite son, asking Steve to help was probably Sam’s best decision. The damn thing was enormous and looked like the king of all pillow forts. He was pretty sure that the Hulk  _ and _ all of the Avengers could cuddle down in there and feel nice and cozy.

“Thanks, Steve,” Sam hugged his friend before the man could leave, “This means a lot to me.”

Steve’s smile was a little sad, but genuine. “Don’t mention it,” he shrugged and looked away briefly, “I know a thing or two about missed opportunities, I’d hate for this to pass you by.”

Sam made sure that Steve met his gaze and poured all the sincerity into his voice that he could, “We  _ will _ find Bucky, Steve. Or he’ll find you. No matter what, your boy’s gonna come home. I promise.”

His friend ducked his head, but Sam caught a peek at his teary eyes regardless. When Steve looked back up the tears were gone, and his usual happy smile was in place. 

“Thanks, Sam. Let me go ahead and get out of your hair so you can go get your girl.”

Sam smiled his thanks to his friend as he retreated out of the room, leaving Sam in the newly super-cozy common room. But now that Sam was alone his nerves hit him full force and with an alarming amount of doubt.  _ What if she didn’t care about him any more? What if it had been too long? What if they were too different now? What if they missed their chance? _

He shook the thoughts from his head, determined to see their reunion through, no matter what. “Hey, JARVIS?”

_ “What can I assist you with, Mr. Wilson?” _

“Is there any way we can keep everyone out of the common room all night? I don’t want anyone to take this down or mess it up.”

_ “Of course, I will keep the common room doors locked until you and Darcy have need of it.” _

“Thanks JARVIS.” He looked around the room another time and nodded his satisfaction to himself. He felt his nerves begin to climb again, so he distracted himself with the first thing that came to mind. He looked to the ceiling, a habit he couldn’t break when talking to the AI, “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, JARVIS how come you don’t call Darcy ‘Miss Lewis?’ She’s the only one without an honorific tacked on her name.”

It was a weak deflection though JARVIS humored him anyways,  _ “Darcy insisted upon the informal address since she and I, and I’m quoting, ‘have a vested interest in the Scientists Three not blowing us all up in a fiery ball of Science!’ so we were now a team that had to work together.” _ JARVIS’ voice was distinctly amused, and Sam thought that somehow the AI would be smiling if he was able to, _ “I couldn’t help but to agree with her logic, but most of all, it seemed to immensely please Darcy to be called by her first name when I do not do so for others. ” _

Sam chuckled, he’d done his fair share of silly things just to see Darcy smile over the years. It wasn’t a surprise that she got the AI wrapped around her finger, too. 

“Fair enough.”

~

Darcy finally managed to drag Jane out of the lab around midnight, having to promise her friend an early morning of Science! just to get Jane to agree. Also having to deal with a hyperactive Tony (followed by a calmer Bruce attempting to corral his friend) invading Jane’s lab and touching all of her gear didn’t help matters, either. It was a true miracle when Thor arrived via Bifrost just as the arguments were getting too heated for Darcy to settle on so little sleep. The god’s appearance distracted both Jane and Tony, thankfully giving Darcy the leverage she needed to get everyone out of the labs and to their rooms.

She groaned as she neared the apartment JARVIS had directed her to, feeling dread fill her guy because she knew that she still had to unpack and check out her new space (she was very curious as to why Tony seemed so giddy about her being on floor 68, but she was too damn tired to ask) before she fell asleep, yet also knew that she’d be too tired to truly appreciate what was sure to be the coolest place she’d ever live. 

She stopped to admire the little plaque on her door that read,  _ Darcy Lewis, Scientist Wrangler Extraordinaire.  _ She had been joking when Pepper had asked her how she wanted her name printed but Darcy was ecstatic to see that Pepper did it anyways. Had she had any energy left, she would have checked out the plaque’s on the other doors in the hallway to see who her neighbors were. That could wait until morning, though, Darcy needed to  _ sleep. _

When she reached down to unlock the door, Darcy’s tilted her head in confusion when she saw the folded up piece of paper taped by the handle. She peeled it from the door slowly, blearily looking around the empty hallway as if someone would tell her what it was before she opened it.

“J? Is this an eviction notice?” She looked to the ceiling, aware that it made her look like an idiot but hoping that it made JARVIS feel like she was actually talking  _ to _ him rather than  _ at _ him. “I told Tony that he was grounded from Science! until he gets at least five hours of sleep, and he couldn’t host a welcoming party for Thor until he had at least two nights of sleep. Did I overstep on my first day?” She’d really hate to get kicked out only eighteen hours after getting hired. 

_ “No, Darcy,”  _ her shoulders sagged in relief at her new friend’s words, and she decided to open the note with a ‘what the hell?’ mentality.

Her eyes immediately began to tear up when she saw the familiar falcon drawn on the inside next to the words  _ common room, 3:00, bring a flashlight. _

Darcy had to clear her throat a couple times before she could force the words out. “JARVIS, who left this for me?” She couldn’t afford to let the hope grow in her heart, but she was also helpless to stop it.

_ “I cannot say, Darcy.” _

“You’d let me know if I was in danger, right? Or if this was some really,  _ cruel _ , fucked up prank?”

JARVIS must have recognized her distress because when he spoke again his voice was much softer.  _ “You are not in danger, Darcy, and to my knowledge, there are no ongoing prank wars.” _

Part of Darcy’s mind made a note to ask about those prank wars, but the rest of her was too busy trying not to turn into a puddle of tears outside her door. “Awesome, thanks, J. Know where I can find a flashlight?”

_ “I’ll have Dum-E bring one to you shortly.” _

~ 

Sam waited anxiously inside of the pillow fort, feeling both elated and terrified. And just a touch embarrassed. When he had opened his door to leave for the common room Sam was met with all of the Avengers, including Jane and Pepper, standing outside his door with giant, knowing grins on all their faces. The latter two looked like they wanted to pinch his cheeks, and Sam looked to Steve with a dry expression.

“Really, Steve? Can’t keep your damn trap shut, can you?”

The other man just shrugged and smirked. “It was too cute not to share.”

Jane apparently couldn’t hold it in any longer, throwing her arms around Sam in a hug. “This is so crazy! Can’t believe the airport-and-coffee-guy is you! Darcy talks about you and all the stuff you two got into as kids all the time.” She looked up at Sam, her chin propped up on his chest, but didn’t bother to release him.

“She’ll be so happy, Sam. I promise.”

He swallowed his emotion, but nodded his thanks when he couldn’t get the words out. Sam looked around at his team, his new and strange  _ family _ , heart warmed by everyone’s pleased expressions. Well Natasha was harder to read than most, though he figured that she was at least  _ kinda _ pleased if she bothered to stand outside his door with everyone at two-thirty in the morning.

Thor stepped forward suddenly and wrapped his arms around him, hugging both Sam and Jane together much to everyone’s amusement.

“Aye, my lightning sister has spoken of you many times, and I firmly believe that it will do her heart good to have you at her side once more. From the tales I have been told, I know that you are a great match for my sister.”

Well, if the God of Thunder gave you his blessing, that had to be a sign, right?

Sam’s smile at the memory froze when JARVIS did his equivalent of a throat-clear then ‘whispered,’  _ “Mr. Wilson, Darcy has almost arrived.” _ The AI paused, before finishing even more quietly with  _ “Good luck.” _

~

Darcy paced outside of the common room for a solid five minutes before JARVIS huffed,  _ “Darcy, this is getting ridiculous. Do I need to have Dum-E chase you in?” _

(In his own suite, Tony was watching the security feed and wondering why the hell his AI was so chummy with the intern, muttering to himself about code that needed fixing until Pepper turned off the TV and smacked him with the order to _ mind his own damn business _ .)

Darcy flapped her hands around in a useless gesture, almost launching the heavy flashlight from her grip in the process, and whined before she responded. “No! I can do this. Right?”

_ “Right,”  _ The AI agreed with exasperation, _ “Now  _ go. _ ” _

“So pushy,” Darcy grumbled. She used all of her hope to fuel her steps forward, ignoring the trembling in her hands and the staccato beating of her heart. Her nerves disappeared momentarily as her jaw dropped at the sight of the common room. She had gotten a tour of the place just that morning, but now she hardly recognized it.

There was what looked like at least four couches worth of cushions used to make the biggest pillow fort she had  _ ever _ seen. Sheets hung from the ceiling over it all and she could see what looked like even  _ more _ cushions on the floor covered with blankets to make a comfy nest. Inside she could see the warm glow of an electric lantern, casting a silhouette on the fort’s soft walls. 

Her feet stumbled, because even though Darcy felt like she could  _ feel _ Sam on the other side of that blanket, she still couldn’t help but to doubt. She squared her shoulders though and pushed herself the final few steps until she reached the entrance of the fort, dropping to her knees to crawl in. The flashlight got left outside the fort when Darcy’s hands shook too much to keep it in her grip. She closed her eyes as she crawled through the entrance, part of her still imagining that this was some big mistake, that Sam hadn’t actually found her.

Whoever was in the fort waited patiently for her to be ready, never saying a thing. It took a couple minutes but Darcy finally felt brave enough to open her eyes.

“Little bird,” she breathed, the words hitching in her throat.

Sam’s eyes were damp, older and more troubled than she remembered, but it was undeniably  _ Sam  _ who was smiling at her _. _

“I promised you I’d fly far and wide to find you, Darcy. And I don’t break my promises.”

Darcy couldn’t help but to let her sobs break out as she threw herself into Sam’s open arms, feeling incredulous and happy and for the first time since she was sixteen, she felt like she was  _ home. _

~

Sam held Darcy as tight as he could and let his own tears fall while Darcy’s hushed whispers of  _ you found me you found me you found me  _ filled the space around them _. _

“You found me too, Darcy,” he whispered back. Sam loosened his hold when Darcy started squirming, but only let her have enough room to sit up in the circle of his arms. They had barely a minute together yet they were already a tangle of limbs, fitting together with an ease that they hadn’t seemed to lose despite the years and miles apart.

Her eyes were wet, but he was almost knocked over by the amount of joy that shone through them as Darcy searched his face almost frantically, like she still couldn’t believe that he was there. He understood the feeling. 

“How did we get here, little bird?” Darcy huffed a small, incredulous laugh when she finally was able to still her gaze enough to meet his head-on.

Sam shook his head and smiled, no,  _ beamed _ at her, not knowing how to answer yet uncaring about it for the moment. She was  _ here, _ that’s all that mattered. Darcy was here and Sam was finally  _ home.  _

He caught her hands as she lifted them to cup his face, his eye drawn to the hint of black peeking out of her sweater sleeve. It looked suspiciously like a tattoo, specifically, the tip of a wing. Heart pounding, Sam pushed her sleeve down another couple of inches, revealing the small tattoo. 

Of a  _ falcon. _

Before he could over-analyze what it could mean, Sam bent his head to place a firm kiss on the tattoo, feeling Darcy’s pulse flutter under his lips. When he raised his head he was met with Darcy’s most vulnerable and hopeful expression. Before she could say anything Sam used his free hand to pull down the collar of his shirt far enough to reveal his own ink.

Darcy’s eyes went wide and her hand trembled as she reached out to touch his chest, tracing the lines of the swallow over his heart that he  _ knew _ she could feel beating frantically under her fingertips. Sam felt his heart beat impossibly faster when she bent forward to place her own kiss to his tattoo. Unable to keep a lid on his desires any longer, he’d waited  _ years _ for this moment, Sam carded a hand through her hair as she sat up and brought his lips down on hers.

He was home _. _

~

Darcy couldn’t stop the the joyful tears from pouring down her face as they kissed, unable she couldn’t stop smiling either. Her heart soared when she felt Sam smile back even as they kept pressing their mouths together, laughing softly into their kisses. They pulled back far enough that their lips were no longer touching, but close enough that they could rest their foreheads against one another’s.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I was ten years old,” she admitted with a happy sigh.

Sam chuckled and though she had her eyes closed, Darcy knew he was rolling his eyes at her. “You thought boys had cooties when you were ten.”

“Yeah, but I always told myself I’d risk it for you, little bird.”

“Always so brave.”

It was Darcy’s turn to laugh and roll her eyes, “I think  _ you’re _ the brave one. If you’re not in my labs but you’re still in Avengers Tower, I have to assume you’re an Avenger.” She laughed harder when she opened his eyes and saw his sheepish expression. 

Sam kissed her again until all of her giggles faded away between each press of their mouths, only pulling back when he knew she wasn’t going to laugh anymore.

“Tell me everything,” he begged, “Where have you been? What have you been doing?”

Darcy took a deep breath, then launched into the tale of her past eight years from the moment she hopped in the van with her mother to the moment that brought her to the pillow fort. Sam never took his eyes off of her as she spoke, offering silent comfort as she talked about her mom’s death, hugging her tightly when she told him about arriving at his old house that now had a new family. He grew tense when she spoke about New Mexico and the Destroyer, and tenser still when he learned about the Convergence and the Dark Elves. He’d press kisses to her lips whenever she paused to gather her thoughts (which was  _ super _ counterproductive) and when the bad memories caused her breath to hitch.

When she finished Sam began his own story, starting when he watched her walk away from him in his backyard and every moment leading to their pillow fort. Darcy shed tears when she learned of his mom’s cancer and Riley’s death, tucking herself under Sam’s chin and holding him tight as he worked through his grief again just as he had done for her moments ago. She smiled at the affection that was clear in his voice when he spoke about working with the Vets at the VA and Stan who helped him out so much. Darcy made a note to send the older man flowers and a thank-you card for all that he’d done for Sam. She laughed when he talked about meeting Steve and Natasha but choked on her fear when she learned just  _ how _ involved Sam was with the shit that went down in D.C. (Darcy and Jane were in some obscure country on the other side of the world for Science! and weren’t privy to all the leaked data that Natasha sent out.) She felt cheated when she realized how many times she and Sam were  _ so close _ but never knew until this moment.

“Shh,” Sam hushed her, “It wasn’t time, Darce, it was just meant to be now.”

“What makes you say that?” she pressed her head against his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat sooth her.

He shrugged, “Gut feeling, I guess. All I know is that  _ this _ is where we’re supposed to be.”

They sat in silence for a while, just holding one another as the sun started lighting up the room as it rose through the windows behind them. Darcy hummed as she thought over Sam’s words, accepting them to be true as she felt contentment rise inside her to settle in her heart.

_ Yeah, _ she thought,  _ this is where they’re supposed to be. We found our way home.  _

  
  


 

  
  
  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm marking this as complete for now, but I may come back later and add more!
> 
> also as far as all information regarding the Romani: got it from a three-second trip to google. probably not the best decision but I wrote this over several days during breaks at work so i didn't do as much research as i probably could have. so i apologize if I offended/etc
> 
> AUTHOR'S EDIT: 5/20  
> i changed all slurs to travelers, i am SO sorry for any offense i caused and i hope that you can forgive me. i didn't mean to hurt anyone or cause any distress etc, I am a horribly misinformed person and only had google to guide me. again, i apologize


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